Anniversary

Darren and I got married 11 years ago in Las Vegas. We dated for about 4 years and he finally decided to propose. It was such a romantic morning. On October 5, 1999 Darren took me to the Uintas to Butterfly lake for a picnic; he said he had to get something out of the car, when he came back he got on bended knee and asked me to be his wife. We didn't have any money so he had found a twig and molded it into the shape of a ring and put it on my finger. I didn't care if I had a ring, I just wanted to be married to the man of my dreams, and he was it. I, of course, said yes and we headed back to Evanston to Wal-Mart and bought a ring. It was the most beautiful ring ever. We then called my parents and told them the news and headed to my grandma's house at Mt. Fuel to share the good news. A week later Darren and I along with my best friend, Steph, flew to Vegas to get married. Chad, Billy and Brandon Pugmire were down there so they also came to our wedding along with Tauna Eastman and her friend Erin. The church that we chose to get married in was Viva Las Vegas and it was a pretty little church. I was walked down the aisle in my wedding dress, with Chad escorting me in his black Metallica t-shirt which he had turned around so it was a little more dressy. We made our vows and then our limo driver took us all over Vegas that night. My favorite part was when she drove us to the Belligio to look at the fountains; we all piled out of the limo and watched the waterfalls dance and sway to the music. I felt like a princess, climbing out of the limo with my wedding dress on. There was romance in the air. As the night came to an end, we had the radio blasting with the windows down and "Goodbye to Romance" by Ozzy came on the radio; we all laughed at the timing of the song. I never wanted the romance to end. We were extremely blessed 3 years later when our little girl was born, she truly was our miracle and she was the one that changed our entire life, for the better. Darren and I had many experiences that were fun but having Kennedy was the purest joy either one of us had ever known. Kennedy changed the way we looked at life and knew there was some definent changes that we needed to make to give her a good life and one that she deserved. Kennedy was born when things for us were tough, but we moved back to Utah near family and from there things seem to fall into place. Kennedy was 8 months old when we were able to be sealed to her and to each other for time and eternity, it was such an incredible day. Our family surrounded us this time and the day was perfect. We are not blessed with any more children but the one that we have is our greatest treasure. Now 11 years later we are still going strong. I love being married to my husband and I guess he still loves me. He surprised me with a ring "upgrade" this year. I always told him if we ever got enough to get a new ring I wanted a platinum band with a square diamond. He got me exactly what I wanted. Thanks Darren, I love it and I love you.